<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Karakura Basketball by Foxfire_at_dawn</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26412943">Karakura Basketball</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxfire_at_dawn/pseuds/Foxfire_at_dawn'>Foxfire_at_dawn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempt at Humor, BAMF Kurosaki Ichigo, But whatever, Gen, I feel like there should be more, Mentioned Generation of Miracles, Sort Of, kuroko's a little shit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:33:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,491</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26412943</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxfire_at_dawn/pseuds/Foxfire_at_dawn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just before the school year started Kuroko encountered Ichigo and his friends at a local basketball court. Sparks fly and now Kuroko has new friends joining him on his journey to defeat the Generation of Miracles.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>On an oddly warm day in early April, a group of seven, five boys and two girls, decided to relieve their collective boredom by taking a walk around their district. and on their walk, one of the guys spotted a small park down the street of the local hangout for teens their age.</p><p>"Let's go to that park." He nodded in the direction of the trees. Paying the most attention, and subsequently the most bored Abarai Renji, was desperate for something to do.</p><p>"You know, of all the times I've walked down this street I never noticed there was a park here." The taller of the two girls, Inoue Orihime, pointed out. Now, Orihime wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but to completely miss a whole park was something else. The shorter girl Kuchiki Rukia chided the other for her inattentiveness. "Orihime you should pay more attention to your surroundings."</p><p>"Hey, she's right though, I've walked down this street before too, and I've never noticed it either." The unspoken "leader" of the group, Kurosaki Ichigo, spoke up to defend their resident airhead. "Oh please, I could understand Orihime but for someone like Ichigo that takes a special kind of stupid." Ishida Uryuu, number 1 of their class and the one Ichigo most often fights with.</p><p>"Uryuu, don't forget Ichigo still in the top 25 of our class." See this is why Chad is Ichigo's best friend, born Sado Yasutora, he only lets his friends call him Chad and he has always got his back.</p><p>"Can we just go? I'd like to be in the shade now." Hitsugaya Toshiro, the shortest high schooler you'll ever meet, also the palest. It was common knowledge that he hated the heat and greatly preferred the indoors, but despite that he was one of the most athletic at their school. In fact they all were, the boys being starters on the basketball team and nationally placing for their secondary clubs, Uryuu for archery, Ichigo for judo, Chad for boxing, Renji for kendo, Toshiro for track\field, and the girls being top competitors for theirs with Orihime for karate and Rukia to everyone's disbelief: wrestling.</p><p>All together they were the unlikeliest group of friends ever but somehow they made it work, it also helped they've been friends for nearly four years, practically siblings. Studying together, training together to the point they could all hold their own at the other's sport, and protecting each other, Ichigo and Orihime mostly. The former for his hair color, for some reason the local thug didn't take too kindly to it, and the latter for her looks.</p><p>Walking through the park, turning heads as they go, they happened upon a basketball court. "Oh look, there's a court here too. How about a small game, huh? A little King-of-the-Court, a round of HORSE, a bit of one-on-one's?" Renji must be nearing his breaking point, so bored he was rambling. "Think again dumbass, we don't have a ball."</p><p>"Excuse me." A voice suddenly came from beside them.</p><p>Screams of surprise, and a grunt from Chad, and a gasp of surprise from Uryuu, were the only response.</p><p>Ichigo and Renji were the first to recover, "How long have you been there?!"</p><p>"Since we got to the park." Sure enough, thinking back they all could vaguely remember another person joining their walk through the park, a shadow flickering at the edge of their vision. "Well I'll be damned, he's really been here the whole time. So what's your name?"</p><p>"Kuroko Tetsuya, I'll be a first year at Seirin in a few days. It's a pleasure to meet you all."</p><p>"Likewise. My name's Abarai Renji, you can call me Renji, and from left to right there is Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia, Sado Yasutora but we call him Chad, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryuu, and finally Hitsugaya Toshiro. We'll all be in our second year at Karakura High." Each gave they're own little greeting as they were introduced. Renji noticed Kuroko was carrying a basketball. "So you're here to play basketball right? Mind if we join you? Then we could play four on four."</p><p>"Not at all. I'd be happy if you did." Kuroko was excited, he could already tell that this game would be different than the ones of his past. With a quick rock-paper-scissors to decide who got the ball first, the game began: Ichigo, Uryuu, Chad, and Rukia vs Renji, Toshiro, Kuroko, and Orihime. Kuroko was in awe of their skills, unconsciously comparing them to his middle school teammates he could tell that up against the ‘Miracles’ Ichigo and his friends would not go down easily.</p><p>Ichigo, especially with his unpredictable play style, seemingly endless stamina, and his ability to adapt to any situation, would be difficult for any one to follow. Renji was strong and light on his feet, would lure you into a pattern then switch to a completely different one. Chad was a silent sentinel, a fortress built of bricks and stone, solid and near impossible to break. Uryuu and Toshiro were unstoppable together as the tacticians they could think circles around their opponents, and with Uryuu’s talent for shooting three’s paired to Toshiro using his small body and gymnast level acrobatics to slip in and out the defence, at one point even vaulting Ichigo to stop a shot, would absolutely crush someone.</p><p>The girls weren’t on the same level as the guys, but they had the potential to be just as lethal. Orihime had a tendency to make mind breaking plays that reject other play styles, she makes you stop and think about what you’re doing and actively change it, otherwise there’s no getting around her. And Rukia, she was like a sword, striking swift and so cleanly it freezes you in your tracks. And you can’t do anything but stare.</p><p>He was happy to have played with such a good group of people, needless to say he would never forget this, and would hope to see them again as opponents in an official match. Kuroko left the park one group chat heavier and feeling infinitely lighter</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately they didn’t meet again until the Inter-High.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seirin had just won against Shutoku and was approaching a restaurant called ‘Okonomi Yaki’, when the indignant shouting of a man being slighted was heard scream obscenities to another. “What the hell Renji? I saw you take it, you bastard, either give me yours or pay for mine!” “Geez what with all the noise? That’s awfully rude” Hyuga was sure that whoever was screaming was bound to get kicked out soon, “Ha? Hey where’s Kuroko?” He was just here.</p><p>“He went inside”, Kagami saw him slip past the seniors and into the building,”said something about strawberries and left.”</p><p>“What?!”</p><p>“Wait for us next time, shitty junior!”</p><p>“Who cares? I’m hungry.”</p><p>When they got inside they saw Kuroko standing next to a bunch of people from a different school, getting glomped by one of the prettiest girls they’d ever seen.</p><p>“Kuroko-kun! I missed you. How have you been?” From the way she was holding him they could see Kuroko turning blue from lack of oxygen. ”Did you win your match? Who did you play? Were they any good?” He’s going to pass out soon.</p><p>A small dark haired girl came to his rescue, “Hey Orihime, why don’t you give him a chance to breathe so he can respond, yeah? You're practically choking him,” and pulled Kuroko away from her. “Are you alright, Kuroko? Take a deep breath, cough if you need to.” She spoke softly patting his back and coaching him through breathing exercises to get his heart rate back to normal levels. She turned back to the taller girl and scolded her for not noticing his discomfort, then she saw his team, “Oh hello, you’re the Seirin team, yes? Kuroko’s told us a lot about you.”</p><p>Hyuga was speechless, having witnessed the near death of his kouhai, all he could do was nod and grunt an affirmation. These girls were weird.</p><p>“Ah, excuse me. My name is Kuchiki Rukia, my friends and I are the Karakura basketball team. It's nice to meet you.”</p><p>“Oh uh, likewise.” The rest just nodded.</p><p>“Hey Kuroko introduce us to your team.” Hyuga had to do a double take. There, right in the middle of the group reclined against the wall like a mob boss, was a guy with the brightest orange hair he had ever seen. Orange! But then again, all of the Generation of Miracles had obnoxious hair colors, this guy would probably fit right in. He turned to Aida. She was blatantly staring at the guy’s hair, most likely thinking the same thing.</p><p>“Right, this is my captain: Hyuga-senpai, our point guard Izuki-senpai, the center Mitobe-senpai, our power forward Kagami-kun, these are Koganei-san, Tsuchida-san, Furihata-kun-”</p><p>“Oi” “That’s it?”</p><p>“-and our coach Aida-senpai.”</p><p>“It’s nice to finally match names to faces.” The glasses guy spoke up, ”I’m Ishida Uryuu the vice captain, and from right to left is Inoue Orihime,” the pretty girl ”the captain: Hitsugaya Toshiro,” there’s no way, he’s a middle schooler a best “Abarai Renji,” why does he have tattoos “Kurosaki Ichigo,” the mob boss guy “Sado Yasutora.” really? He looks like an adult. What’s with the scruff? How long has he been in high school?! “And of course Kuchiki Rukia” she's kind of like a porcelain doll.</p><p>Hyuga leaned down to Kuroko,”Why does it seem like you gather the weirdest people around you?”</p><p>“Thank you, senpai.”</p><p>“It wasn’t a compliment!”</p><p>“Ne, Kuroko-kun you never answered my question. Who’d you play?”</p><p>“I apologise, we played Shutoku.”</p><p>“Shutoku? One of the Kings? Oh, oh, oh did you win? Can you tell us about it?” Orihime wanted to know everything, what was the score, who was the best player, how did you beat them, you think we could beat them? But she was interrupted by the chimes at the door announcing another customer.</p><p>“Midorima-kun? And Takao-san?” Kuroko asked, and in the corner of his vision a glint of yellow, “Kise-kun?” Has he been there the whole time? Is this what it feels like for his teammates when he suddenly ‘appears’? “Ah, you finally noticed. I thought you were just ignoring me.” “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.” Kise flinched as if he were struck and whined, “ You see Kasamatsu-senpai? He’s so mean.” “Dumbass.”</p><hr/><p>There were now five out of six colors in the restaurant; red, orange, yellow, green, and blue, and for some odd reason they all ended up at the same table. The people around them were incredibly tense, sensing the awkward atmosphere and were anticipating a fight. Kasamatsu wondered “should we separate them?” He was most worried that Kise would say something stupid and need to be rescued. “Nah, they’ll be fine. Just let it happen.” Takao was trying desperately not to laugh, but it was a losing battle. “You wanted this, didn’t you.” it wasn’t a question, Takao was a manipulative piece of shit and planned for this to happen, Midorima was sure. "Nooo. Not at all." Liar.</p><hr/><p>Kuroko could see that Midorima was tense, but he wasn’t inclined to do anything about it. “Maybe you should order your food.” Ichigo suggested and waved over a waiter, he noticed that the others grouped them together because of their hair colors but he also wanted to know why Renji and Kagami looked like they were gonna kill each other.</p><p>“Oi Renji, what’s your deal? Why are you looking at him like that?” If he heard Ichigo, then he didn’t acknowledge it. He just kept staring. “How much?”</p><p>Kagami could only blink. “Huh?” What in the world was this guy talking about? He hasn’t even ordered his food yet and they’re already saying weird things.</p><p>“How much for you and Kuroko to transfer to our school?” Renji had plans, big plans, if he sealed this deal now then the doors of opportunity would be endless.</p><p>“What the hell, you can’t buy our first years!” Hyuga cut in from behind them, obviously listening to their conversation. But Kagami grinned mischievously and played along, “How much are you offering?” <em>Let’s see just how far I can take this. Ah, here’s the food. Wow this is good,</em> he thinks. Renji narrowed his eyes.</p><p>“80,000 yen and a book of Maji Burger coupons, each.” Kuroko let it slip in one of their chats that he and Kagami often see each other at Maji Burger.</p><p>“Dammit Renji, go back to Rukia!”</p><p>Kagami choked on his squid balls and looked back at his Captain. He was honestly contemplating the merits of the offer. After all it was more than what Seirin offered him, which was nothing. He closed his eyes and silently apologized to the coach, "It was nice playing with you all."</p><p>"I'm sorry Hyuga-senpai, I wish you luck continuing forward." Kuroko was now a Karakura first year.</p><p>"Oi, oi, oi, don't tell me you're seriously considering it!" Huge couldn't believe it. these two bastard kouhai would really let themselves be bought out from under him. A cloud of dread suddenly descended onto them, and goosebumps broke out across their skin. Even without looking they could tell Aida was smiling eerily, "Kagami-kun, Kuroko-kun if you even think of leaving the team, I will break both of your legs." The audacity of these kids irked Aida greatly. Honestly after all the work she put into molding their potential, they’d better be grateful that she’s their coach at all. Kagami could barely resist shivering in fear, he chanced a look at Kuroko and he was deathly pale. Damn, he really wanted those coupons.</p><p>“Wait a second, is your team any good? I’ve never heard of the Karakura basketball club, so if this is you trying to recruit players then no way.“ If Kagami was gonna pimp himself out to any one then they better be good.</p><p>Kise just watched the interaction, he could tell that the two newcomers were good, but to what extent? Enough of that now, he wanted to introduce himself. “Sooo, my name’s Kise Ryouta, and this is Midorima Shintarou. We played with Kuroko at Teiko junior high. And um, not to be rude or anything but I’ve never heard of you either and I was wondering why.”</p><p>“Oh that’s fine the team was just formed last year, so that’s understandable.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Last year?”</p><p>“Are you for real?”</p><p>“Yep, my friends and I wanted something we could do together for the winter after defending slash achieving our championships.”</p><p>“Championships? But you said you formed your team last year.”</p><p>Ugh, now Ichigo had to explain, seriously from what Kuroko told him he knew they were basketball fanatics, but they should know there are other sports out there. “Yes championships. Each of us is either a defending champion or a first time champion. Me and Renji, the red head, are the defending Judo and Kendo champions respectively. Over there Uryuu, in the glasses, he’s been the number one archer in japan for two years, and next to him, the white haired one, that’s Hitsugaya Toshiro he’s been the record holder for the 100m dash and vertical jump for just as long, he’s also the face of our track and field team, now on the other side of Uryuu is Sado Yasutora, we call him Chad, he’s national heavyweight boxer and a defending champion just like me and Renji.”</p><p>“Wow” Kise had a newfound respect for the Karakura team. No wonder he’s never heard of them on the basketball scene, they weren’t even a part of it yet. Even Midorima looked vaguely impressed, that says something. And it wasn’t lost on him that they are combative sports either, not including track and field. But Ichigo wasn’t done, he went on to include the girls, “And those two talking with Aida-san, they’re Inoue Orihime and Kuchiki Rukia. Orihime got first place in last year's Karate regionals, and Rukia’s just got her first place national wrestling belt a few weeks ago.” Needless to every one of them was proud of themselves, but they were even more proud of the others. Ichigo leaned forward with his chin on his wrist, “but that’s enough about us, tell me more about the Generation of Miracles.”</p><hr/><p>
  <em> “The Teiko Middle School basketball club. An incredibly strong team with over one hundred members and three consecutive championship wins. Amongst their brilliant record, the generation of five prodigies was known as the ‘Generation Of Miracles’. Despite being relatively unknown and lacking a game record, there was one more member recognized by the five prodigies. A phantom sixth man.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em> Kise Ryouta, small forward. Ability: Perfect Copy. Kise can copy the exact movements of another player and use their skills against them. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Midorima Shintaro, shooting guard. Ability: Long shot. Midorima can make three’s from anywhere on the court.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> Aomine Daiki, power forward. Ability: Formless Basketball. Aomine’s Formless Basketball is streetball perfected to an art and making shots never seen before in an official game, aka streetball 30x.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> Murasakibara Atsushi, center. Ability: Shield of Aegis\Thor’s Hammer. An impenetrable shield, nothing gets past Murasakibara while inside the three point line. He can even stop low arcing three’s. But when he comes out from under the basket, he can make dunks powerful enough to shatter the backboard.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> Akashi Seijurou, point guard. Ability: Emperor’s Eye. Akashi’s Emperor’s Eye lets him predict the future, when he looks at you he passes judgement on your body language and reacts before you can even make a move yourself. When paired with his ‘ankle break' technique, Akashi truly rules the court.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kuroko Tetsuya, position unknown; self-proclaimed ‘shadow’. Ability: Zero Presence. When paired to Kuroko’s unusual talent for misdirection, his already low presence is diminished further, causing endless confusion to his opponents and occasionally his teammates. However, Kuroko cannot use his ability indefinitely; before long his opponents will get used to him and move to counter.</em>
</p><hr/><p>“Oh-ho, sounds interesting, especially this Aomine guy,” Ichigo turned in his seat, “reminds you a bit of Grimmjow, doesn’t he Chad?”</p><p>“Hmn”</p><p>“Anyway, Kise. Why do you continue to be friendly with them?” Midorima didn’t get it, how could you lose to someone then sit together and eat like nothing happened? “You already lost to them once. If anything I can’t believe you have no problem sitting with them.”</p><p>“Geez Midorimacchi, I know losing sucks but come on. Yesterday enemies are today’s friends!”</p><p>Kise smiled good naturedly, “Besides, I’ll get my revenge at the Inter-High, of course.” Making eye contact with Kagami, he was directly challenging him, “I won’t lose next time.”</p><p>“Bring it on!”</p><p>Midorima stared contemplatively at the two, “You’ve changed Kise.”</p><p>“Huh, what do you mean?”</p><p>“Your eyes . . . They’re strange.”</p><p>“Strange?” What? How? Why would he say that? Oh “Maybe it's because I’ve started practicing more since we played kurokocchi.” He smiled softly, “Also, lately I’ve been thinking it's pretty fun playing basketball with the guys from Kaijo.” Midorima sighed, apparently that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. “It seems I was mistaken. You have not changed at all. You’ve simply reverted to a state before our three consecutive championships.”</p><hr/><p>Behind him Takao was playing with his food, tossing it about like a child.</p><hr/><p>“But . . .” Kuroko cut in, “ We were all like that back then.” Midorima dismissed him, returning his attention to Kise, “How you change is up to you. However, I am not playing basketball to have fun.” He glared heatedly at him.</p><p>“Now that’s just stupid.” Ichigo interrupted, he was forgotten in their little exchange, “If not for fun, why do it at all?” To him the whole point of sports is to have fun competing against others and enjoy proving your skills. If you don’t enjoy it then why bother? Kagami had a similar mindset, where’s the fun in winning if you don’t enjoy the game. “Yeah, you guys think too much. Of course we play basketball because it's fun.”</p><p>“What are you saying? How dare you speak like you understand when you know nothing at all-” Midorima was interrupted by Takao’s meal taking residence atop his head, calmly he stood and promised to continue the conversation another time. “Takao, come here.” “Sorry. Sorry.” Takao feared for his life, apologizing furiously as he was dragged outside. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I'm sorr- Ack.” Inside they could hear the sound of flesh impacting flesh, and offered condolences to Takao’s safety.</p><p>Turning back, Kuroko chose to ignore what just happened. “Kagami-kun is right. That’s what I realized during today’s games. If it was boring, we never would have gotten this good.”</p><p>“Haha, well said Kuroko! I couldn’t agree more.” Grinning Ichigo teased, “I knew there was something special about you.” At that moment Midorima decided to return from outside. “Kagami, let me tell you one thing. There are two of the Generation of Miracles in Tokyo. Myself and another: Aomine Daiki. You will face him in the championship league. He’s the same type of player as you.” “What, I don’t really get it, but he’s pretty strong too, right?” Geez, what’s with these people always saying weird stuff, just tell him what you mean don’t beat around the bush. But the greenette just huffed and set down a 1000 yen note and walked away. ”Well, do your best.”</p><p>“Midorima-kun,” Kuroko stood to address him, “let’s play again sometime.” not that anyone can see, but he was smiling hopefully.</p><p>“Of course we will. I will win next time.” And he left.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tell me what you think...<br/>Good...<br/>Bad...</p><p> </p><p>...also this wasn't beta read to what you see is what I wrote.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Karakura Basketball First String Lineup; Character Profile</p><p>
  <em> Hitsugaya Toshiro:  Point Guard, Captain. “The Little Dragon.” Toshiro is known throughout the school to be intense and somewhat domineering, as well as being extremely territorial of what he’s deemed as ‘his’. However, it was his small stature and seagreen eyes that really made the name stick. It’s been said that if you lock eyes with him you can see the shadow of a dragon looming over him. Jokingly awarded “Most Athletic” by his junior high class.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> Ishida Uryuu: Shooting Guard, Vice Caption. “The Marksman.” Uryuu has an incredible talent for calculating angles and trajectories, paired with his remarkable intelligence, Uryuu has yet to find a match. He’s the only one of the first string without an animal epithet. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sado “Chad” Yasutora: Center. “The Tiger.” Despite the connotation for his name, Chad is not an overly aggressive person. It was unfortunate that he was often targeted by thugs using “prison logic” to get “street cred”.  When he met Ichigo and made the promise to always have each other's back, he took up boxing as a way to better protect himself.  Together with Ichigo they became “The Tiger and Lion Dou.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Kurosaki Ichigo: Small Forward. “The Lion.” Oftentimes misjudged as a delinquent because of his hair color, Ichigo has never actively sought out conflict and is a fairly mild mannered boy with good grades and a talented athlete. When he and Chad swore to protect each other, every thug in the district met their fists one way or another. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Abarai Renji: Power Forward. ”The Snake”, Renji’s ‘strike first, strike hard, strike fast’ motto really solidifies his title, especially in kendo; when asked his opponents would say they never saw him move until it was too late. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Coach and additional players: </em>
</p><p><em> Shihouin Yoruichi: Coach. Affectionately referred to as “Hellcat” by her old team and the boys she coaches, Yoruichi was a professional player and went up against women like Alexandra Garcia during her WNBA days. Uryuu recruited her to coach when his friends committed to forming a basketball team. Her motto is:“Unleash the Beast.” </em>She’s the one who had the idea to nickname the team after animals.</p><p>
  <em> Jaggerjack Grimmjow: Small Forward. “Panther.” Simply speaking Grimmjow is a feral tsundere who’s only outlet is basketball, and has taken it upon himself to rival Ichigo. Whenever they see each other it usually devolves into a fight of some kind. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Madarame Ikkaku: Power Forward. “Monkey.” Ikkaku is loud, and easily irritated but not really confrontational,  ‘he just has a lot of pet peeves’ his friend Yumichika says. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Hisagi Shuhei: Point Guard. “Wolf.” Before joining the basketball team Shuhei was a loner and ostracized by the students because of his facial scars and sometimes had to fight off bullies looking to “put him in his place”. Now he’s respected as one of the school’s only basketball players. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Yamada Hanataro: Shooting Guard. “Mink.” Meek and soft spoken, Hanataro can be surprisingly vicious when provoked. Hanataro acts as the team’s medic to gain experience as an aspiring career in sports medicine. </em>
</p><hr/><p>Karakura vs Touou Interhigh Semi-finals. <em>(</em> <em> Serin vs Touou was the interhigh preliminary finals, this is after Kaijo vs Touou, replacing the Touou vs Onita match.) </em></p><p>“Are they crazy?” </p><p>Even though the one who said it was high and back in the stands Toshiro could hear them loud and clear, even more so since the crowd was struck dumb. He can’t really blame them though, if he were anyone else and saw a five foot midget stepping up for the tip off with a six-foot-three relative giant, then whoever even let the boy play was stupid. But too bad, Toshiro stepped up to get the jump ball so he’s gonna get the jump ball, and everyone else can suck it.</p><p>“Oooh. They shouldn’t have said that. Now he’s irritated.” The coach grinned from the bench. Let it be known that commenting on the basketball captain’s height is absolutely taboo, the words: midget, shorty, short stack, little boy, kid, or tiny, are never to be uttered upon pain of death. Not even his friends were safe. Of course it didn’t help that his nickname is “little dragon”.</p><p>His opponent however looked genuinely concerned, “Oi kid you want to do this? Shouldn’t you let one of them jump?” Honestly he thought the big guy with the shaggy hair would be the one to jump.</p><p>If Toshiro had 5 yen for every time he heard that phrase, he’d be rich.“Ooooh ? Well aren’t you cocky?” Irritated, but also sort of amused, he had gotten used to being dismissed because of his height but he would never let it become a disadvantage and soon they would know why. Then he huffed out a small laugh and calmly asked, “What’s your name number six?” The smaller one was smiling, but his eyes said <em> I will destroy you. </em></p><p>The number six quirked an eyebrow, “Wakamastu Kosuke.”</p><p> “Well then Wakamatsu…” the referee went to toss the ball, “let this be a lesson to you...” they both bent their legs in anticipation, “to never underestimate your opponents.” the ball is in the air.</p><p>Then he jumped.</p><p>And he soared.</p><p>Needless to say Toshiro won the tip off.</p><p>And before anyone could react, he slapped it to Uryuu who moved to shoot a three from just outside the half-court line. "There's no way he'll make that shot. No one but Midorima has ever made that shot." But he did, and scored the first three points of the game. </p><p>Everyone from the bench had the same thought<em> : Let the game begin. </em></p><hr/><p>“What the hell?!” Watching from the stands Kuroko and Kagami were shocked by the tip off. Kagami never would have thought such a small guy could jump like that, nevermind a low arching three the glasses guy just made, it was like the ball was literally shot at the hoop. Then he thought, <em> what if he were my height </em>, nope nope nope he didn’t even know how to handle that. </p><p>After some consideration he took his phone out to record, <em> Coach needs to see this. </em></p><hr/><p>Reclined on the bench, cackling loudly, the Karakura coach was looking over at the Touou benchwarmers. “The look on their faces gets me every time.”</p><p>“Is that why you make him jump all the time?” Hanataro asked, most times after practice, when he’s not too tired, he would offer massages to everyone and Toshiro is the only one who deliberately asks when he doesn’t.</p><p>“No. Well that’s part of it.”</p><p>“Um, so what's the other part?” He prompted.</p><p>“I needed an excuse to make him suffer.” She and Toshiro weren’t always on the same page and that was the only thing she could think of without being cruel, it doesn’t help that he hated cats and she was the human embodiment of the word ‘feline’. “I mean I could just let Grimmjow do it, but that’s not nearly as impressive so why bother. We’re here to make a statement, little Mink.”</p><hr/><p>Harasawa Katsunori, the Touou coach, looked over to Yoruichi irritated by her unabashed laughter. He felt like she was mocking him, pulling that stunt with the shorty and then laughing about it when everyone was obviously surprised. It was enough to make anyone flush with anger. “Momoi, what do you know about our opponents?”</p><p>“Not much. The team was just formed before the Inter-High prelims last year, and they did well for newbies. Unfortunately they ended up dropping out before quarter finals, so their last opponent took their place. They’re five starters are nationally number one for their chosen sports. The captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro, is the record holder for highest standing vertical in Japan.” Finding anything this team was like trying to thread spider silk through the eye of a particularly small needle. All there was practically nothing on any of them, it’s like they never existed before. It was so irritating. “They only thing even related to basketball is their coach, and she is a former WNBA player.”</p><p>“Damn, so we’ve got no way to plan ahead.” Now he was properly wary.</p><p>“I’m sorry Coach.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure Imayoshi will think of something.”</p><hr/><p>The score was 15-12 and halfway through the first quarter. Touou was leading. They were doing well playing through their shock, they’ve never played against a team that’s challenged them like this, usually Touou would be in the 20s or 30s by now. No one has ever choked out their offence enough to still be in the teens in the first quarter. There’s no way some no name team from the other side of tokyo can be this good.</p><p>
  <span>Honestly Imayoshi was a loss, he didn't know what to with their opponents, the short one -- calling him small or little is disrespectful to his presence on court-- jumped around like a monkey on a sugar rush, if he bothered to look any closer he would notice all those crazy moves were calculated without any wasted movements. The shooting guard was slipping between his markers like sand through fingers. Their center wasn't giving any ground, Touou's never had this much trouble trying to score under the net before. Susa could barely keep up with the orange one, and Wakamastu was glaring lasers, if looks could kill then the redhead would be six feet under.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>None of his team know how to handle these upstarts, no one even knew they existed until now. Taking advantage of a lull in the game, Imayoshi met Momoi's eyes, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>call him”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he silently urged her. She nodded and raised a phone to her ear. Slightly reassured, he focused back to the game; Wakamatsu was facing off against the redhead and again was glaring murder at him. Nobody could figure out why he was having so much trouble with him, they were pretty equal in ability and could keep up with each other well. Maybe it would be best to change their marks and see what happens, so Imayoshi signaled the coach to call a timeout.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to switch up our marks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Wakamastu was practically foaming at the mouth, “What the hell are you trying to say!?” Frustration was radiating from him like fire, but it wasn’t directed at his captain, no, Wakamatsu was frustrated with the red head. The little shit kept changing his movement, every time he thought he caught on that piece of crap would do something different and completely throw off his rhythm. Not to mention the slimy bastard did not stop smirking the entire time, like he knew that Wakamastu was struggling to adjust and he should just give up. Ooooh, when he finally gets his hands on the red head, he’ll beat him so bad, that asshole will wish he’d never picked up a ball in his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Imayoshi could relate, their opponents were interesting to say the least. “Listen to me.” His eyes opened to slits, “We know next to nothing about them, and it’s obvious some of you are struggling, especially you Wakamatsu. You’re letting him lead you around, like a dog to a bone. You’re so focused on how he moves you can’t see that he’s isolated you from the rest of the game. Either pay attention to the game or get off the court.” He had no sympathy for those that can’t benefit the team, if Wakamatsu couldn’t get his act together then he was benched, simple as that.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tell me what you think....<br/>Good...<br/>Bad...</p><p> </p><p>...also this wasn't beta read so what you see is what I wrote.</p><p>P.S sorry for the shorter chap, I've hit a road block on how to the game should go.</p><p>Born on my phone, apologise for this pre-me baby.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Tell me what you think...<br/>Good....<br/>Bad...</p><p> </p><p>...also, this isn't beta read to what you see is what I wrote.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>